All posts tagged What’s Hot

Google +, the social networking service run by the search engine site, launched several new products including “What’s Hot” and “Ripples.”

The “What’s Hot” tab, which a Google spokesperson said would be available to all of Google +’s 40 million users, is a stream of the most popular posts from the site’s different users. Aggregated algorithmically using “obvious signals such as how often the content has been re-shared, commented on and +1’d, but also the content and the nature of the comments,” according to Google. The stream is accessible through the left side navigation bar and also appears as a series of promotional images at the bottom of your homepage stream. It is a permanent fixture at this point and it is not possible to turn on or off.

“Ripples” is a visualization tool for public comments that gives its users a greater understanding of how posts are spread throughout their contacts and beyond. Vic Gundotra, the senior vice president of engineering, posted an example of how the tool works. To begin, “find a public post that interests you, and select ‘View Ripples.’” From that point it is possible to zoom in on a particular set of events, replay the activity and identify “top contributors.” Unlike “What’s Hot,” “Ripples” is in its experimental stage. Gundotra is asking users “to let us know how we can make it more informative and more awesome.”

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.